The first story I came across was on Bright.nl, a Dutch magazine/blog on Innovative Lyfestyle. They wrote about Dutch author Ivo Victoria who offers the digital version of his debut novel without DRM, but with an ePub Watermark, which makes it possible to lend your e-book to a friend. (Read more about DRM and Watermarks on Wikipedia) On top of that the buyer can decide how much he wants to pay for it, starting from €1.

The second story I read came via Suw. She linked to an article by author Paul Carr, who writes for Techcrunch. He describes why and how he offers his book for download. A snippet of the beginning of the article:

“So that’s your advice is it? As my agent? On the week my book comes out in paperback, I should produce my own pirated version and give it away free? Why don’t I just punch my publisher in the face? That would be less work.”

I encourage you to read the whole article.

I’m wondering if publishers will ever catch up with both authors and readers on the concept of digital books.

(about the number in the title)